Flying the Singapore Flyer

I'll be the first to admit.

When I found out that Singapore was going the way of London in building our own Ferris Wheel tourist trap, I groaned in disbelief. How unoriginal and kitschy can we get?

But then, that was before the baby arrived.

Before you know it, here I am, morphed into a parent looking for more stimulating experiences to offer a frisky and highly curious 18-month-old, and a way to allow the family to spend some quality time outdoors together.

That is the story of how we decided one morning to claim my Asia Miles for a family package to visit the Singapore Flyer. Really, taking a trip up the Singapore Flyer fits the bill perfectly, because:

1) It's round, and it turns. The boy loves everything that turns!
2) The glass-all-around capsule you get into kind of reminds you of stepping into a giant milk bottle. (ok, so I'm stretching the comparison a little.)

And most important of all,

3) It fulfills the boy's craving to climb great heights, without the commensurate danger of falling and hurting himself.

And, to be fair, the view is pretty spectacular.

More on our Singapore Flyer experience!

Here, the mommy and boy:

And the grandpa soaking in the Saturday morning sunshine and view of the Singapore skyline.

Family portrait

We're on a mission this week.

In view of our imminent 12 months ahead of home-cooked food made by yours truly, the husband and toddler are super keen to stuff our faces with as much local yummies as possible.

Just to give a quick snapshot of what this meant for us just this past weekend:
1) First meal: Kway Chap (braised pork innards, meat, tofu with flat rice noodles)
2) Lunch: Imperial Treasure 小笼包，拉缅
3）Dinner at WestLake with the Chen Family: Kong Bak Bau (braised pork belly in steamed bun), chili crab, fu yong dan (fried omelette), steamed tofu, roast chicken
4) Sunday Lunch: Rindo set at Waraku
5) Sunday Dinner: Seafood Hor Fun, Crab bee hoon, Crab in XO noodle soup, prawn paste chicken, Pai Guat Ong (sweet pork ribs), wolfberries in spinach soup, hot plate sambal sotong...

yumm...

I'm sorry to say that this will be a hard act for me to follow, having never been a stay-at-home mom/cook in my life. Need prayer - for more forgiving taste buds and better culinary skills on my part!

The nice thing about dinner on Saturday was having the Chen tribe altogether. We took the opportunity to take a family portrait at CY&A's place.



What a blessed family we are.

A family re-united.

It was a sweet, but surreal, family reunion.

Saturday afternoon, Dylan and I found ourselves rushing to the "Arrivals" boards in T3 only to find that we were in the wrong terminal. 15 minutes later, after rushing back to the car and driving to Terminal 2, the father of our son walks through the gate to a son smiling shyly at him and then excitedly running all over in the arrival hall.

Dylan's not been able to stop saying "Daddy" since.

Our happiness is also mixed with worry and some stress these few days, as the father in law was admitted into hospital the night before with some swelling in the gums. The swelling has gone down somewhat now, and the scans that are performed today will tell us more about why it occurred in the first place.

The grandma has been tired traveling to and from the hospital, spending her days with the grandpa, and we're making alternative childcare arrangements for these couple of days.

We are really thankful to my parents for making themselves always available to take care of a frisky 18-month-old, and my family too. Tomorrow, Dylan will get to spend his day with cousins Christy (5), Sara (3), Ryan (11-months), and cousin-once-removed Steffi (approx 6-months).

Commencement, and JK Rowling

On this day, in a few hours' time, over a thousand graduating doctoral and master students from the Harvard Graduate School of Education will be filing down Appian Way to receive their certificates.

Some who are parents will have their toddlers and infant-in-arms amble up the stage, with them, to the cheers of their attending family and friends.

And later in the day, still in their full Harvard crimson regalia, many of my friends will be joining the frenzy of other graduating students from other Harvard schools (and the press) to listen to JK Rowling, famed author of the Harry Potter wizard series, speak at The Yard.

"If Harvard Were Hogwarts"

As mortar boards are thrown in the air, and champaigne bottles are popped, little old me will be waking up to another new day.

Hopefully with less ado than this morning, when the little tyrant decided that 6am was plenty late to get up and join in the pre-dawn chorus of the birds outside the house.

Brushing Teeth

One of the first things I did last week was to get Dylan his first proper toothbrush.

And a tube of edible toothpaste - which ended up costing $13.80 for a small 75ml tube, and astounded me.

He's a little skittish about having me manoevre the brush, but enjoys handling it on his own.

So here are a couple of photos. In the second one the mommy is on the phone explaining to daddy what the little tyke is up to:


And an update: the little tyrant slept through the last two nights, and in fact last night remained in his own bed the whole way through without incident!

Hallelujah!